Archive for July 8th, 2009

One year after delivering a stark warning of the pressures facing the flexible packing sector, an industry body has said while the current challenges have changed, the situation remains as difficult.

In July 2008, Flexible Packaging Europe said soaring raw material prices, including hikes in polymer costs, as well as rising transport and energy tariffs were “threatening the financial backbone” of the industry.

We’ve been having an interesting debate in the office over the past few days regarding the importance of innovative packaging for the CD market and how it could help CDs compete with the download market. Affiliated to this is the need to move forward in innovative ways in a market that is becoming more and more impacted by environmental concerns.

Many CD producers are trying to cut costs to compete but is that the right thing to do? And will it not just reduce packaging to a worthless commodity item that is just seen as waste?

During that debate we came up with some interesting insights and thought that it would be good to share them with you and elicit any comments that you might have.

By 2013, world pharmaceutical packaging demand is projected to increase 6.3 percent annually to $62.3 billion. That’s up from last year’s $45.9 billion. The solid growth is forecast in “World Pharmaceutical Packaging,” a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc. (www.freedoniagroup.com).